Turtleback Lake We Take What's Ours

Time for a long overdue pack hunt! This is not a mandatory hunt, but all members are encouraged to participate!

RE: A herd of caribou has entered the Snowmarch Expanse. Provided in the link below is a section of map, marked to indicate the proximity between the VK's hunting party and Driftwood. Please allow @Aytigin to post first.

Map

Hours earlier... Neha stood atop a great slab of natural stone, carved from the canyon walls and reaching well above the treetops. Towards the west, her cold brown eyes were fixated. Watching...anticipating. Some miles away, in a stretch of clearing, flanked by the great lake on one side, a mass of dark brown poured in. Their numbers were great, and their timing couldn't have been any more perfect. Caribou. Theirs for the taking. Neha knew the pack would have to act quickly on this golden opportunity before it was gone just as swiftly as it came. With a flick of her ears, she let her eyelids fall shut, recalling the course of events over the weeks of the past. The coyotes were no more...that was a blessing. But their neighbors remained, of course. And worse yet, @Nineva had been forced to step down, leaving the Vuesain to fill in for her. Temporarily of course. Until she was ready to reclaim her spot, Neha in the meantime would run the pack to the best of her ability. There had been a time when once, she may have considered leading a pack of her own, but those days were long gone. She would do what needed to be done, grateful for at least the experience.

Now it was time to act. Raising her head, she let out a powerful cry, beckoning the rest of the Keep wolves forth. Come join me! We shall hunt...we shall feast, together! And while at it, send a powerful message to the wolves of Driftwood Surge. Vigil's Keep was here to stay. They would hunt where they pleased...where the prey was. They would not be shoved aside by a band of greedy bullies who thought so highly of themselves. Clacking her jaws with a low growl, she flew down the rocky path which she had climbed and began to make her descent. She didn't stop once she reached level ground. She pushed ahead, through her home, making a direct beeline towards the clearing that she knew lay to the west. Awaiting them would be their bounty.

// Keeping things vague on the thread with @Adarius
and on the challenge thread with @Elias

Aytigin was a different wolf now. Bolder. More confident. He was healthier, stronger, more ambitious in all the best ways he could be. Free from the vitriol of the Driftwood pack, where his actual personality had been shunned and he was only treated with more than contempt when he followed every rule - dotted all his i's, crossed all his t's. In the Keep, he wasn't expected to be perfect. None of them were. It was nice to not have that stifling fear every time he opened his mouth.

Neha was doing a good job standing in for Nineva. He would have preferred to be the one at the helm, but he didn't mind Neha. She was a nice woman - fair and kind. He didn't mind having her over him.

Temporarily.

She earned so much more respect from the male when he heard her call for the caribou hunt. It was closer to Driftwood than he expected - about halfway from their borders - but it was ballsy and kind of amazing. Pride swelled in his chest as he surged forward to meet her, letting out his own bellowing howl to the sky.

Fuck Driftwood. He lived in a pack of badasses. Even the kids were awesome.

"Let's get this show on the road," he announced as he approached her, tail waving neutrally behind him.

Elias didn't think this was a good idea. At all. Nineva had insisted that they weren't going to 'try anything', that they would let things settle and only react in self defence if Driftwood Surge made the first move. But this seemed very provocative, like they were poking the proverbial bear to see just how it would react. The wolves of the Surge had been adamant over their claim of the hunting grounds, trailing after a herd so close to their borders just seemed to be asking for trouble. Elias wanted to say as much but with Neha acting in Nin's stead he didn't want to oppose her decision, he was there to advise but he was in no position-nor did he have any desire- to make demands. The very least he could do was try and lessen the blow, minimise the damage to the Surge wolves pride. Wolves were prideful creatures after all, if they took offence to this they weren't just going to let it go.

Slowing to a trot, Elias side eyed his leader as he debated what to say. Pack hunts were always exciting affairs but...of course Elias was worried. No change there. There was so much that could go wrong, and what of the pack's expectations of him? Yiiiikes. He was half tempted to just back off, pretend he hadn't even heard the call. But he was standing right next to them and it would be very weird if he started moonwalking away, whilst looking anywhere but at his packmates. It was too late to back down now, he'd waded right into the fray, he had no choice but commit. Or maybe not...

"Perhaps we could steer the herd a little closer to the Keep?" He suggested after a prolonged pause. If not then...he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do.

(This post was last modified: Oct 03, 2018, 02:19 AM by Elias.)

just posting to show that nin is abstaining from the hunt

Everything was wrong. Her body had failed her, infecting her with pain and a foggy mind, and while the sickness was now fading, its effects were still in front of her. She'd had to give up her leadership, something she'd never been willing to consider before, but it had been what was best for the pack; what if the Drift struck, and they had only feeble Nineva to lead them? Neha had been needed, and she had stood up to the role admirably.

This, however?

The pack pulled away from her, their loyalty bidden to another wolf now. They headed not just West, but South West, where she had specifically directed them not to go. What was she to do about it now, though? She had given up her rights to lead, had only one option to show her discontent; abstain.

She sat still as a monolith, gray eye watching as the others moved toward the Surge, toward aggression, toward what would assuredly become their destruction. Disapproval shone strongly within her eyes. She had warned them, and they would not listen. She supposed it was her fault, ultimately, settling them here at all.

Maybe even that wouldn't have mattered. Maybe even if she'd found them the most remotely located of homes, things would have gone wrong.

Hell certainly was other wolves, and Nineva now knew that she would never catch a break from cleaning up the messes of others.

Ramiel ARCHER

I don't believe in no devil,'cause I done raised this hell

Everything seemed wrong in the keep now that Nineva had stepped down from leadership. It wasn't Neha he had chosen to follow to this place and make a home. He had pledged his loyalty to the ghost woman all those months ago. His anger at the way things had turned out bubbled inside him but what was the young Archer to do? Nin’s illness would only last so long so he stayed, he cared for the pack that was rightfully hers. The yearling understood the need for the healer to step into the role of leader, even found Nineva's actions honorable, to make sure she was well enough to care for the pack. All of that didn't change the fact that his loyalty lay with the ghost woman.

Even with his desire to boycott any orders given by the Vuesain woman he could not. There was a deeper need that the pack had, food. The coyotes and the crows had savaged their caches, taking everything they had. Winter would get upon them before they knew it and they needed to fill their caches to the brim to ensure their survival through the coldest months. Ellery, the little princess would need the nourishment if she were to survive and grow stronger.

Silver gaze fell in the queen as Neha’s call went up to join her in a hunt, it was desperately needed. A look crossed his face that he hoped would convey to his former leader that he was doing this out of necessity and not to go against her and her wishes. He had to go for the pack and so his dark form moved in the direction of the call, to meet the others in a hunt that he hoped would be quick and go unnoticed by the surge wolves. They could not afford to anger the neighborhooding pack at such a fragile time.

☾

Table by Grey

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you

The young Judas motives were simple - to win Nineva over. He had to intention to move south-west after the carribu, not yet. Judas had already gone out of his way to please her by doing at he was told after his attack on a Shallow's wolf, he had tried his best to look over Ellery, make good with the pack members even if he was more particular to the few women within it. Hopefully, where he lacked in words, his actions would show how much Nineva had captured his attention.

Siding along Nineva, he pauses. "Best stick with you and Ellery..." After all once Yuka joined in that would be five wolves for the hunt. Having Judas hang back, as the yearling, was the best move in order to not only help watch the pup but watch their sick Queen, or so he still felt as such. Not that he didn't like Neha and all. "Should keep an eye out should something go south. " The Keep wolves were not on Surge territory and yet, who knows what they might do, determined to lay claim beyond their means as the Edge wolves did. Judas of course, wouldn't miss out on a fight.

(This post was last modified: Oct 08, 2018, 02:17 AM by Judas.)

A warren of rabbits is hidden under a nearby tree. +3 Health

Posting to show that he is abstaining.

When the call went up, Yuka's face twisted in what could only be described as a distorted, ugly scowl. The male was already not happy with the turn of events, not so much because Neha was the one covering for his sister but because Nineva was sick. The Thorben knew that the only reason the Hervok would step down was if something was wrong. The brute did not want anything to happen to his only remain family - that he cared about. What made this call so interesting at least, was that their new lead was heading in a direction that his sister had proclaimed to be off-limits in terms of their hunting grounds. A low growl left the man's mouth, anger flowing through him and causing his body temperture to rise. He had helped her. Fought in a scrimmage. Sure, she had raw talent in terms of fighting but he had basically taught her how to defend herself and this was how he repaid his family? The creamy russet-hued male took a deep breath before he allowed his temper to get the best of his thoughts. Instead, before making his way to Nineva, Yuka let out a low call, informing the woman that he would remain to protect the homestead. He was less fit for hunting anyways. With a hard glint in his eyes, the man trotted towards where his sister was, amber teal-flecked eyes falling upon the Archer, who was awfully close to his sister. The man's lip lifted into a snarl and a low growl left his lip in warning to the younger male before his eyes moved over to his sister - still as lifeless and hard as they were before. Moving to his sister's other side, he took a seat and remained silent, not willing to say anything in the presence of Judas.

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de

Thank you TABs

aleister vuesain

blood's thicker than water

The nomad's ties were only attached to the one he shared blood with, so when her powerful and demanding call filtered through the trees, his body lunged to follow. Aleister may be a silent ghost in the Keep, but he was always lurking in the shadows whenever his sister needed him. It wasn't unnoticed by the Vuesain of the transition of power into Neha's paws rattled her more than anyone else could notice. She was strong, the strongest woman he knew, but there was only so much she could handle. He would be her rock if she needed him to be, to shoulder any of the burdens of this new position. The nomad knew it wasn't easy leading a pack, let alone a pack that didn't swear allegiance to her.

Which was clear when only a few showed for the hunt, the others sitting out because if may ruffle a couple feathers of the fragile Driftwood wolves. Screw them. The Keep needed food after the onslaught of the vermin and at least this hunting party won't blatantly cross borders to do so. Mismatched gaze found her brown eyes as he approached from her side and settled at her flank like normal ready to follow Neha's lead.

Delayed this long enough. Second round ends the 28th. No posting order.

To her dismay, only a handful of them responded to her call. She already knew Aytigin would be joining her. Elias arrived, followed by Ramiel, then of course her brother. Once gathered, she acknowledged Elias' suggestion. "Yes. Once we get close we should try and steer our target closer to the borders." She was aware that she was taking a risk doing this and his wariness was justified. As for the others, she would not hold it against them for sitting out.

With her hunting party gathered, she pushed on southwest towards the small clearing in which the caribou herd awaited them. Soon the trees began to thin and as she drew closer, their prey came into view. With a flick of her tail she stalked silently amongst the trees, examining the caribou through narrowed brown eyes. They needed to find a target. An old or injured animal, preferably. And after a moment of scanning, Neha found her candidate. Towards the back of the herd, one lingered. His back right hoof dragged and scraped along the ground. He was lame, and in obvious discomfort. "There. Towards the back. He will be sluggish. Easy to take down between us."

Neha can often be found close to Aleister's side and therefore may appear in any of his threads.